Huldingungs Marsch for King Ludwig II of Bavaria, or The Kaisermarsch, celebrating the German victory over France in 1870. These works celebrate the political nationalism that was not espoused by Wagner directly, and certainly not found in other works of his like The Ring, in which German mythology universalizes a nationalism that runs much deeper than its obvious political statements. In another work, The Mastersingers, Wagner depicts the Volk, themselves, as the guardians of artistic tradition and progress. Thus, Wagner becomes the spokesman for a movement begun years before by Fichte and Herder. Nonetheless, if this German national style is not, like other national styles, instantly recognizable as German, it had popular expressions which may now seem strange. For example, in 1863 the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Vienna awarded a prize to a Swiss man, Joachim Raff, for his first symphony. This symphony was titled An Das Vaterland, and included a rather interesting and fairly detailed program:First Movement: Allegro. Image of the German character; ability to soar to great heights; tendency towards introspection; mildness and courage as contrasts that touch and interpenetrate in many ways; overwhelming desire to be pensive.Second Movement: Allegro molto vivace. The outdoors; through German forests with horns calling; through glades resounding with folk music.Third movement: Larghetto. Return to the domestic hearth, transfigured by love and the muses.Fourth Movement: Allegro drammatico. Frustrated desires to work for the unity of the Fatherland.Fifth movement: Larghetto-allegro trionfalle. Plaint; renewed soaring. It is the fourth movement that attracts attention, perhaps more than the others, for the argument at hand. It is interesting to note that this piece of music has meant little for more than one hundred years. It is seldom performed today and played even less on public radio. At any rate, the important th...
